Monday, October 4, 2021
“And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4 KJV).
Why is calf-worship so prevalent in Holy Scripture?
Similar to the Egyptians’ Hapis/Apis calf-worship, Phoenicians and Canaanites revered Molech/Moloch. (Recall their common descent from the Tower of Babel.) This bull-man god of fire had horns. In the Law of Moses, not only did the LORD prohibit the Jews from retaining pagan idolatry from Egypt, they were not to adopt new idolatry from the Phoenicians and Canaanites either.
“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:21). Also, chapter 20: “[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [2] Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. [3] And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. [4] And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: [5] Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.”
Unfortunately, Israel disobeyed the LORD here too: the Jews practiced Moloch-worship during the 40 years of wilderness wanderings (Amos 5:25,26). King Solomon worshipped Molech (1 Kings 11:7). Centuries later, King Josiah reformed Judah and abolished Molech-worship (2 Kings 23:10). Still, the LORD had had enough of Jerusalem’s defilement with Molech, and used the Babylonians to punish them.
Let us now see the first calf worshipped….
333 Words of Grace 